International Companies Thrive in Arkansas
June 18, 2024In economic development, we work to attract businesses to our state, to retain and help existing businesses expand in our state, and to encourage entrepreneurial growth. Business attraction and retention is not limited to U.S. companies – it’s essential to encourage foreign direct investment (FDI).
One of my favorite events of the year is the SelectUSA Investment Summit, which is focused on FDI in the United States.
The Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) will be taking part in the 2024 SelectUSA Investment Summit held June 23-26 at National Harbor, Maryland. I will be attending along with some of our AEDC Business Development team members, in addition to several Arkansas stakeholders.
While we’re at SelectUSA, our team will be promoting Arkansas as the best choice for where international companies should invest and do business.
Across Arkansas, international companies are manufacturing goods and products that are shipped around the world. These companies know Arkansas provides the business climate and the workforce they need to succeed.
In Arkansas, international companies find a favorable business climate and a low cost of doing business – from low utilities to steadily decreasing taxes. During Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ administration, our state has already cut taxes twice, and we are on the verge of cutting taxes – both personal and corporate income – a third time. We can do this because our state is fiscally responsible; this lets international companies know that Arkansas is a stable state to do business.
Workforce is always top of mind for employers when they are looking to locate a new facility or expand an existing one. Arkansas provides an experienced manufacturing workforce that gets the job done. There are 474 international employers in Arkansas employing 40,576 workers – including 28,435 manufacturing workers. We also know that it’s critical to keep building our workforce, and we have a strong talent pipeline that positions Arkansas for continued success in the years to come.
In the past year, we’ve had a successful run of foreign-owned companies investing in Arkansas. Dassault Falcon Jet announced a $100 million investment that will create 800 new jobs at their Little Rock facility – the company’s largest facility in the world. Norwegian packaging company Elopak selected Little Rock as the location for its new $70 million production facility that will create 100 new jobs. Sig Sauer plans to expand its ammunition manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, investing $150 million and creating 625 in the region. Irish healthcare communications company RelateCare chose Sherwood, Arkansas as its new back-office support location and will create 255 new jobs.
Our FDI successes have continued in 2024. We have had projects announced from Walther Manufacturing in Fort Smith; R2S, a joint partnership between Raytheon and the Israeli defense firm Rafael Advanced Defense System, in East Camden; and Bekaert Corporation in Van Buren.
We look forward to more successes in attracting foreign direct investment in Arkansas. Over the coming months, we expect to have announcements about new investments, as well as groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings for previously announced projects.
If you are making the trip to Select USA Investment Summit, please drop by the Team Arkansas booth – Booth 224 – to learn how your business can thrive in the Natural State.
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